The invention refers to a reach truck. Particularly to such ground conveying vehicles that include a lifting structure or mast and/or a load support means (fork) which is adapted to be elevated at a support structure and which can be also horizontally displaced. This allows loading or unloading of a palette in a rack by the support means. The loading of high racks with reach trucks is generally known. Usually, the reach trucks have telescopically extendable masts, with the load support means being mounted on the inner mast portion which is guided along the each outer mast portion. Usually, three mast portions are employed with the most outer mast portion being stationary, i. e. fixedly attached to the driving portion of the reach truck.
It is further known to provide such reach trucks with wheeled legs. The legs or arms are fixedly attached to the drive portion or the support structure or the mast and extend parallel to each other away from the driving portion and parallel to the fork of the load support means. At the end of each leg there is located at least one load wheel. The space between the legs is larger than the size of a palette. Therefore, the reach truck may drive laterally of the palette with its legs in order to allow the engagement of the fork with the palette. Correspondingly; the legs allow a depositing of the palette on the ground between the legs.
For space reasons the space between the legs is selected such that the space is not larger than necessary for the palettes to be handled. However, it is known that a plurality of different palette sizes exists. The present invention may be adapted to provide for different size pallets to be handled.